Submitted photo Boardman Center Intermediate School fifth-graders Lena Angiuli and Gabriel Lawman get an up-close look at a bearded dragon at a recent school assembly.

BOARDMAN — A box tortoise, bearded dragon and a series of snakes were among the many reptiles that recently delighted students at Boardman Center Intermediate School.

Realm of the Reptile is an Akron-based science program that really grabs students’ attention — sometimes literally.

Reptile expert Marissa Hall is a wildlife educator who visits schools with her hands-on exhibit of wildlife and facts about what they eat, their natural habitat and how the animals interact with each other.

Students volunteered to come on stage as they were guided how to hold the animals, or the animals just instinctively knew just what to do.

Nearly 900 students in grades four to six participated in the 40-minute presentation, and all had the chance to pet the reptiles on their way back to class. The PTA sponsored the program.